Asian shares were mixed on Friday, with Australia climbing while other major markets in the region turned in more tepid performances.
The Nikkei 225 inched higher by 0.06 percent. The benchmark’s advance was capped as the securities brokerages sector dropped 2.74 percent, with Nomura falling 5.92 percent after it reported net profit in the quarter ending in June fell to 5.2 billion yen ($46.8 million), compared to 56.9 billion yen one year ago.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi hovered around the flat line, and was last marginally lower by 0.01 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recorded convincing gains of 0.89 percent in morning trade, with the index led higher by the information technology subindex.
Markets in China traded lower, with the Shanghai Composite shedding 0.48 percent and the Shenzhen Composite pulling back by 0.72 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index eased 0.6 percent, with the declines led by a drop in materials.
MSCI’s index of shares in Asia Pacific outside of Japan slipped 0.09 percent in Asia morning trade.
U.S. stocks were mixed overnight, with technology taking a beating after Facebook reported a miss in second-quarter revenue after the market close on Wednesday. Shares of the social media giant dropped 18.96 percent, suffering their worst day ever, on the back of those results.
The decline in tech saw the Nasdaq Composite recording its worst day in around a month, falling 1.01 percent to 7,852.19, although other U.S. indexes were steadier.
Over in Europe, stocks rose in the last session, supported by waning concerns over trade after talks between the U.S. and European Union. The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.87 percent on Thursday.
On the trade front, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that the U.S. was making progress on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and hoped to secure a deal in the near future.
Meanwhile, the euro was steady after its overnight stumble when the European Central Bank kept its policy unchanged. The euro traded at $1.1644 at 10:09 a.m. HK/SIN after slipping some 0.7 percent in the previous session.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of peers, held onto overnight gains to trade at 94.730 as investors awaited the Friday release of second-quarter U.S. GDP due during U.S. hours.
In individual movers, shares of BHP were up 2.13 percent in Australia after the company announced it will be selling its its U.S. assets for $10.8 billion. BHP said it was expecting a charge of around $2.8 billion post-tax in financial year 2018.
Corporates in the region due to report results include Yahoo Japan, ZTE, Kia Motors and SK Innovation.
